Sagada Adventure: Breakfast at Vincent's Cafe, Tour Around Echo Valley and Hanging Coffins

Though our tour guide, Kuya James told us that we can start the tour at 9:00 a.m., we still woke up early. We prepared ourselves for that day's activities.
First we went out to look for a place to eat breakfast. We headed towards the health center. Then I saw that the Vincent's Cafe was open. We entered and a young waiter came out and gave us the menu. We ordered fried bangus and longanisa with rice and native coffee for drinks. I could smell the aroma of the native coffee which reminded me of my grandma. She used to roast coffee beans when she was still alive.. (miss you Lola). Our orders came and we started eating.

Longsilog (Longanisa, Garlic Fried Rice and Egg)

Fried Bangus,Garlic  Fried Rice and Egg)

 After breakfast we headed back to our room and waited for Kuya James. Then we left for our first destination, the Echo Valley. On our way, we passed by the Episcopal Church.

Sagada Episcopal Church

We got off the van and started walking. We passed by the Christian cemetery. Out of respect to those who are resting there, I didn't take any photos.
On the way, I saw these beautiful flowers. I asked Kuya James what it is. He said they call it 'Angel's Trumpet '.

After almost 15 minutes of walking, we reached the hilltop called Echo Valley. It wasn't named Echo Valley for nothing. So, Kuya James  gave us a sample by whistling with his finger.  Then we heard the echo. I wanted to try it but I opted not to.

The view of the hanging coffins from Echo Valley

Standing on hilltop called Echo Valley

a Rock for rock climbing

We looked around and then we headed down to the nearest viewing point of the hanging coffins. The path wasn't paved and the rocks and mud were slippery. Which my husband wasn't able to escape from.The first one we visited had only one coffin. Kuya James explained why there's only one coffin there. He said that the way it was done was not right, because it can't get sunlight. So after that, no one decided to put another. He said the coffin fell down before and they just returned it up there. He further said that since there's only one person buried there, they were able to return it. But if there's more than one, then they wouldn't do it because it's possible that the bones of one will mix with another.

The burial cave with only one coffin

From there we headed to the Hanging Coffins. There were more than 10 coffins hanging on the rock. Some were long others were short. Hanging coffins is a 2,000 year old indigenous culture and burial tradition of Igorots in Sagada. The coffins were carved by elderly Igorots before they died. Some of the coffins are short because the cadaver was placed in the fetal position. Kuya James explained why other coffins were long. He said the ones inside the long coffins were Christianized Igorots who wished to be buried the traditional way.

You may wonder how the corpse fit inside those short coffins. According to Kuya James, the tradition includes smoking the corpse throughout a 5-day burial feast to avoid fast decomposition. During that period, the corpse is seated on a chair and held up by a tripod made of small trees. After the feast, the corpse is pushed into the tight space inside the coffin in a fetal position which often times results to broken spines. Then, the relatives will hang the coffin on the cliff where it can get direct sunlight, free from natural disasters, and also from animals. Igorots also believed that the higher they place their dead, the nearer they will be to their destination. Relatives also hung the chair and the tripod with the coffin because they believed that when their dead relative feels tired, he/she needs something to sit on. But Kuya James jokingly said that they might be doing that because no one will ever want to sit on a chair where a dead man was seated and smoked for 5 days.

Though this burial tradition is slowly fading, it is still practiced in Sagada. In fact, the latest addition to this hanging coffin was Lawagan's coffin which was added last December 2010.

I wondered how Igorots hung the coffins up there without any special techniques. So, I asked Kuya James. He said the relatives of the dead used a temporary ladder. They made holes on the rock where they inserted hard wood that could hold the coffins. Then they placed the coffins on those supports. Pretty smart, aren't they?...

>>>>>>>>>To be continued>>>>>>>>>